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Michael D. Pitman reports about Butler County, Ohio, politics, county government, countywide issues and Butler County people just like you for Cox Ohio Publishing (including the Hamilton JournalNews, Middletown Journal and several weekly papers in Butler County). He wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment for him here or e-mail Michael at Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > October > 15 > Entry
Crank v. Patton
In a now-familiar paradigm, the Democratic challenger, Lana Patton, for Butler County recorder is running on a campaign of change, and the Republican incumbent, Danny Crank, is running on his record.
The Democrat
Patton, 48, of Milford Twp., said she wants to put the office’s records online, possibly charging a small fee to access them.
Crank took the records down three years ago to protect residents’ sensitive information. The records are only available in his office.
Patton also said her 20 years in real estate give her the background needed to run the office, which deals mostly with recording land transactions.
“I deal with title companies day in and day out, this is what I do,” she said.
And she said Butler County government is lacking integrity.
“With all the scandals
and everything that goes on
in Butler County, it’s time to put honesty back in Butler County offices,” she said. “I think it’s time that Butler County needs to be revamped, and I think it will probably happen this year.”
The Republican
Since taking over the office eight years ago, Crank, 62, said he was the first in the state to set up electronic records filing, and has focused on customer service and thrift.
“Basically, I run a fiscally conservative office,” he said. “I don’t waste money, I got a bare-bones staff and we run everything on a very small budget.”
Crank said he renegotiated a contract last year, allowing him to save potentially $365,000 by 2010.
Crank said he’s redacting records to put them online, but it’s a slow process. Instead of paying $185,000 to have it outsourced, he has four employees looking through 2.5 million pages of documents.
In addition to identity theft concerns, Crank said he doesn’t like the idea of offshore companies doing title searches online.
“People in Butler County make a living doing research in the office,” he said. “(With records online) you don’t have to hire people in Butler County anymore. (There are) people in India who will do title searches for you for nearly nothing.”
The Butler County recorder’s office has 17 employees and an annual budget of roughly $1 million.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: County Recorder
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By Edward Schaefer
October 16, 2008 10:15 PM | Link to this
Danny Crank is doing a great job for Butler County. As a title examiner and attorney I know that he is protecting Butler Citizens by keeping records off line until the time is right. Keep Danny Crank for Butler Recorder!
By Cooking games for girls
May 26, 2011 6:27 AM | Link to this
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